Is My mantis molting?

[Mr.Smith]

Ok so, the other day I posted a topic on how many flies I should be feeding my L2 Mantis. After reading you guys reply's about finding out your mantis intake ratio I decided to test that, so i put him in a small enclosure, and gave him 5 flies. He ate 3 out of the 5 flies. After that I put him back in his other cage, and he ran up too a leaf, and has been hanging there for a little over a day now. His abdomen is HUGE. He is only using his legs to hang on the leaf, and every once, and a while he does this weird swaying with his front arms sprawling them out and in....? (I know this post has a lot of bad grammar, but I'm in a rush here)

 

[Crazy4mantis]

there are often false alarms (I have been fooled many times into thinking they're molting when they were just full). see if he has moved tomorrow, or if he is interested in food. If neither, he is likely molting. don't go overkill on humidifying the cage if he is, whalbergiis don't appreciate it

 

[Mr.Smith]

Thanks for your help man!

 

[Mr.Smith]

Well some caresheets say pray 2 times a day, and others say only 3 times a week? Which one should I be doing?

 

[Crazy4mantis]

they are prone to infections, but still need water. you can spray daily, but make sure you have great ventilation (one side of screen, etc) so that water can evaporate. they don't like it humid. don't get water directly on the mantis

 

[Mr.Smith]

I have the Exo Terra Invertebrate Terrarium/Kit.. It has really good ventilation. I take him out when I spray then put him back in....

 

[Toxic]

When I had these I just ran a line of water in front of the mantis to drink from... I never once sprayed their enclosure.... I kept mine in 70% mesh enclosures.....

As for your first question time will tell... No need to worry as long as your mantis has a good place to moult from it'll be fine....

 

[Aryia]

I mist all my humid/wet species once every three/four days and do not have any trouble with mismolts. But trust me they certainly can be overmisted, and I will advise against misting daily. I've lost a majority of my orchid culture while following online caresheets like that. Speaking of which, the amount you mist depends on your relative humidity in the room. So if the person who wrote the guide had a low relative humidity, then it would've been fine for them to mist daily (also depends on how much water you actually mist). My relative humidity is at 60% in the mantis room with the once every three/four days schedule.